{"id":158626,"date":"2025-08-31T00:01:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T07:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=158626"},"modified":"2025-08-31T11:01:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T18:01:05","slug":"if-swimming-were-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/if-swimming-were-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"If Swimming Were Easy….5 Things Swimmers Face to Be Their Best"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Swimming Were Easy….5 Things Swimmers Face to Be Their Best<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Chandler Brandes, Swimming World College Intern<\/em><\/p>\n

Spoiler alert: It\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

We can all agree that swimming is not an easy sport. But choosing the easy route has never been the swimmer way. Here are five things which make swimming one of the hardest, yet most rewarding, sports out there…<\/p>\n

1. Struggling with Motivation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Motivation is essential in our sport; without it, it\u2019s nearly impossible to spend hours a day in the pool and in the weight room. It\u2019s not always easy to find motivation, and we all experience periods when our motivation wavers. Lack of motivation negatively impacts our performance, and when we lose our drive, it can be hard to find something that inspires us. Whether it\u2019s achieving your end-of-season goal or being there for your team, find a form of motivation that works for you. After all, you get out of it what you put into it.<\/p>\n

2. Early Morning Practices<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"morning-steam\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Swimmers are up for practice before the crack of dawn while most people are still sound asleep, and we practice far earlier than most other sports teams. We go to practice when the stars are still shining, and leave morning practice when the sun is just starting to rise. On top of all that,\u00a0the most intense part of our season occurs when it\u2019s dark and cold outside. Waking up early for morning practices is never fun,\u00a0but knowing that your teammates and other swimmers across the country are turning their alarms off at the same time you are makes it just a little bit easier.<\/p>\n

3. Overcoming Obstacles<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Playing<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Abby Boone<\/p><\/div>\n

We all deal with adversity during our swimming careers. Whether it\u2019s hitting a plateau, a season-ending injury, or loss of\u00a0motivation, we all have obstacles we must overcome. To swim fast, we must break down those barriers, but it can be hard to stick with it knowing it would be easier to give up. \u00a0Just as we push through hard sets and tough races, we need to push through what blocks us from reaching our full potential, knowing that the outcomes will be worth the possible pain and heartache along the way.<\/p>\n

4. Hard Training<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Without a doubt, swim practices are difficult. We train hours upon hours to race for a small amount of time, and the time and energy we put into our training may not always seem worth it. Swimming\u2019s a sport of delayed gratification; we have to wait months, even years, to see the slightest bit of improvement. Whether we believe it or not, sets have a purpose, and our coaches are only helping us improve. If practices were easy, we\u2019d never become stronger and faster. Training is hard, but it\u2019s harder at the end of the season knowing you could\u2019ve done more.<\/p>\n

5. Mental Toughness<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"christoph-margotti-2015-texas-florida-indiana\"<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold\/Aringo<\/p><\/div>\n

The mental aspect of swimming is arguably the most important, but often the most forgotten. We\u2019ve nailed the physical aspect of our sport: we know that our bodies are capable of swimming and racing lap after lap with good technique at a high intensity. But what goes on in our minds as we train and race is something that blocks many swimmers. Developing mental toughness is a process. Just as we train our bodies, we must train our minds to stay focused and engaged during practice and races, which is a skill that doesn\u2019t happen overnight. By staying positive and focusing on what you can control, you can work towards\u00a0becoming more mentally tough.<\/p>\n

Swimming\u2019s not easy, but easy doesn\u2019t make us better. My teammate has a quote written on her kickboard which reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was easy, everyone would do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And swimmers aren\u2019t just everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If Swimming Were Easy….5 Things Swimmers Face to Be Their Best By Chandler Brandes, Swimming World College Intern Spoiler alert: It\u2019s not. We can all agree that swimming is not<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":144527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,17],"tags":[44800,53470,54472,865,55257,87,142,42970],"class_list":["post-158626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college","category-commentary","tag-abby-boone","tag-andy-ringgold","tag-chandler-brandes","tag-energy","tag-season-ending-injury","tag-swimmer","tag-swimming","tag-tyler-fenwick"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nIf Swimming Were Easy...<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spoiler alert: it\u2019s not. 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